Celebrity
‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama Dies At 68
TOKYO — Akira Toriyama, the creator of the best-selling Dragon Ball and other popular anime who influenced Japanese comics, died Friday, according to his studio. He was 68.
Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series debuted in 1984, has sold millions of copies worldwide, and has been translated into wildly popular animated TV episodes, computer games, and movies.
‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama Dies At 68
Toriyama died on March 1 from a blood clot in his brain, Bird Studio announced in a statement.
“He was working enthusiastically on many projects, and there was still much he was looking forward to accomplishing,” the company said in a statement.
Messages of condolence and grief from fellow creators and fans flooded social media.
Eiichiro Oda, the writer of the blockbuster manga “One Piece,” described Toriyama’s presence as a “big tree” for younger artists.
‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama Dies At 68
“He showed us all these things manga can do, a dream of going to another world,” Oda said in a statement. His loss left “a hole too big to fill,” Oda noted.
Bird Studio thanks its fans for almost 40 years of support. “We hope that Akira Toriyama’s unique world of creation continues to be loved by everyone for a long time to come.”
Akira was born in Aichi prefecture in central Japan in 1955 and made his manga debut in 1978 with the adventure comic “Wonder Island,” which appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. His Dr. Slump series debuted in 1980, was his first big success.
Akira avoided the spotlight even if it elevated him to celebrity status. In 1982, he told the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, “I just want to keep writing manga.”
‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama Dies At 68
According to the studio, Dragon Ball, the story of a kid named Son Goku and his quest for seven mystical balls that can grant wishes, has sold 260 million copies worldwide.
Akira also created characters for the video game series Dragon Quest. He garnered numerous accolades in the manga business and elsewhere, including France’s Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
SOURCE – (AP)
